Some say that playing on a PC is the true way to experience what the gaming industry has to offer. Not only does it have the best specs for all your favorite games, but when it comes to mods, servers, and content, PC definitely has the upper hand in what feels like The Tortoise and The Hare against consoles.
For AAA console-exclusive releases, however, it really begs the question if PC is all that great. Having to wait months on end, especially when your friends and family are already going through the communal experience, and unnecessarily needing to dodge spoilers and sit it out Squidward-style.
It’s one of the toughest parts of being a PC main, and next year it’ll be put to the highest test when hopefully and finally Grand Theft Auto 6 hits the physical and digital shelves for everyone to finally discover the vast, revamped Leonida for the first time on console. Although you might think you’re safe with your next-gen PlayStation and/or Xbox, here are four ways that not having a PC version ready for release day will affect GTA 6 console players.
1. Scuffed Role Play
One of the biggest reasons why the Grand Theft Auto franchise has survived over a decade without a new installment has been the role-playing community with GTA RP. This vastly self-maintained community has mastered the lobby preset, the mod combo, and world immersion with this style of play. This, unfortunately, will be very difficult to pull off in a vanilla server, as the consoles offer.
Unless Rockstar has an ace up its sleeve and gives console players the most customizable servers to date, the role-play community will try their best to make it GTA 6 Online their home for months or years until the PC port arrives.
2. Slower QOL updates
It seems a little unfair that Xbox depends on the PlayStation version of the game to be ready and vice versa, so Rockstar and console players alike enjoy a simultaneous release, but nobody thinks twice for PC players. That is because it is way more difficult to code, test, and release a game on a platform with a million possibilities.
On release day, there’s only one Xbox Version, one PlayStation version, yet there are many ways that you can build and set up your PC to run GTA 6. So to account for all of them, there needs to be developers and resources allocated for that specific port of the game. Once GTA 6 is out, expect most of the focus to be on bringing it to life on all remaining platforms. That means console teams will be in place for patches, bug fixes, and such, but with fewer members, as it will be all hands on deck until the PC release is fulfilled.
3. Server Crash
The delayed release on PC also means all those PC players are more than likely going to make the jump to either their previous console or their preferred new one, so as not to miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime event. The hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of PC players of Grand Theft Auto will split towards either PlayStation or Xbox, meaning a huge influx of gamers will be downloading the game, updating their consoles, trying out GTA Online, etc., all at the same time.
Not only will it be one of the biggest releases in the history of gaming, but it will also be the return of casuals, ex-gamers, GTA-lovers that quit, non-gamers, newgens, and a whole bunch of unexpected markets trying the new instalment out just for the heck of it, ultimately leading to more unstable servers from Day 1.
4. Frozen DLC Clock
Finally, just like with quality of life updates, until the game is fully released on all its platforms, the clock will start ticking for new content. Years were spent working on GTA 6 – it’s expected to be hours upon hours of new gameplay, dialogue, storylines, and characters, but regardless of how long the development was, the campaign has to come to an end, and the people will not understand, per usual.
“When will the first DLC release?” will be the talk of plenty of forums, video essays, and streams in no time, and it might take a little longer than expected – at least not until the PC version has been finished and released. Trust that for Rockstar, it’s gonna be priority número uno as it’ll be their second biggest flow of income after spending over $1 billion creating this supposed masterpiece. Hopefully, it doesn’t take another 13 years to get there. Crossing my fingies.
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